Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Judge Leibowitz - Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Apparently, Judge Leibowitz was the first to impose a rule about cigarettes. It worked building wide and now you must be properly attired to enter her courtroom. I thought the courts were the people's court. I thought Judges were elected and served us the citizens.

What is Judge Leibowitz going to do when a citizen can not afford the proper attire that she demands.

Oh and By the way, You can not have any drinks in the courtroom that you paid for, by the Judge and staff that you pay their salaries. But guess what. Judge Leibowitz can have a cup of coffee. "Do as I say, not as I do"

Here are the Rules before entering Judge Leibowitz court.

EVERYONE ENTERING SHALL BE DRESSED IN PROPER ATTIRE – NO SHORTS, MUSCLE SHIRTS, BAGGY OR LOW RIDING PANTS. NO HATS, BANDANAS HAIRNETS, OR HOODS. NO SEE THROUGH CLOTHING, BACKLESS OR HALTER TOPS, OR SUNGLASSES.

NO TALKING TO INMATES OR COMMUNICATION OF ANY KIND IS PERMITTED.

NO FOOD, DRINKS, CHEWING GUM OR NEWSPAPERS ALLOWED IN THE COURTROOM.

USE OF CELL PHONES IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. IF YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY SITUATION, PLACE YOUR CELL PHONE ON VIBRATE AND GO OUT OF THE COURTROOM TO ANSWER.

Maybe I should open a Courtroom clothing store near the City County Building.

6 comments:

Are these folks going to court are all they going to middle school? The dress code looks like it came from Knox County Schools.

Much of this doesn't surprise me given the lack of decorum regarding cell phone etiquette these days. The food thing doesn't seem unreasonable either. Nothing particularly wrong with a granola bar in the courtroom but I'm guessing it was much more than that. I can just see someone waltzing in with a 10 bagger or bringing in a couple of happy meals to keep the kids settled...

Nothing wrong with requiring a little old fashioned civility in our courthouse as long as its not unreasonable - which this doesn't appear to be.

You make valid points about the food. I don't think that many people go through the City County Building Security with a 10 bagger and kids in Criminal Court are a rarity, especially ones with Happy Meals.

Banning drinks would be acceptable. However, why does the Judge get an exception? The lawyers, court reporters, the accused are all in the courtroom the same time as the Judge and they can not have coffee but the Judge can. What gives?

My issue is the clothes requirement. What happens when an accused does not have the Judges "specfic attire"? When the Judge gets this one as standard practice. Where is the stopping point. Next year everyone must wear a suit, maybe a specfic suit.

Maybe she will require socks. For those of you that have never seen me in person, I rarely wear socks even with a suit. I wear dress slacks, dress shirts and an occasional tie but I rarily wear socks.

Well, at least one lawyer occasionally in her court never wears socks. These are reasonable rules and Judge L's drinking of coffee doesn't account for the fact that she is the only person there from start to finish and she does make exceptions for good cause to all of her rules.Brian, if this is what bothers you about her court, how do you respond to the Republican criminal court judge who has not been at work for 2 months and who rarely stays past 10:30am, when he shows up?

Actually I am well aware of the Republican Criminal Court Judge. Knox County only has one. So, you are referring to Judge Ray Lee Jenkins. His position was one of the seats on the 2006 Republican ticket that as Knox County Republican Party Chairman I managed.

Are you aware that Judge Ray Lee Jenkins actually has carried a heavier load and dispensed of more cases than the other two Judges? That was at least the case when I managed the coutywide ticket last year.

If he is carrying a larger load and dispensing of more cases and can get the job done by 10:30 a.m. more power to him.

BTW, I am not a lawyer and certainly there are no plans for me to be in Criminal Court and I pray that I am not there as a victim of Crime.